Your rent and service charges

From April 2026, a rent increase will be coming into effect for social housing residents across the country. This helps housing providers like us to keep pace with rising costs, ensuring we can continue delivering reliable, good‑quality services across our homes and communities.

You will receive a letter towards the end of February confirming what your new rent will be. If you also pay service charges, the same letter will outline your updated payments from 1 April 2026.

Why is my rent amount changing?

Rent levels for residents who pay social rent or affordable rent are set in line with guidance from the government. 

This year’s rent increase is in line with the level set by government and will apply to social housing residents across the country.

To keep costs down for social housing tenants, the government sets limits on the level of rent that housing providers can charge, in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Providers can raise rent by the CPI figure plus an additional 1% per year. The rent increase will combine the CPI for September 2025, which was 3.8%, with an additional 1% – meaning the overall increase will be 4.8%. 

This approach helps housing associations maintain essential services while keeping rents significantly below private market levels.

To put these figures into perspective: the average rent for a two‑bedroom social rent home with us is just 32% of the cost of renting a similar property privately.

How is my rent used?

As a not‑for‑profit organisation, we reinvest your rent straight back into our homes and services.

The rent increase allows us to:

• Maintain and improve existing homes and communities, through continuing to provide great services for you
• Ensure all properties meet safety standards, including gas, electrical and fire safety
• Keep up with rising costs for repairs and materials

You can explore more about how we invest in our homes in our Annual Report.

Will the proposed merger with Thrive Homes increase how much rent I pay?

No. Your rent will not change because of the proposed merger. The government sets the amount that individual housing providers can increase their rents by, so the merger would have no impact on how much you pay.

 What about service charges?

If you pay service charges, these will also be updated to reflect the estimated cost of providing services in your building over the coming year.

We apply a cap each year to make sure no one pays above a set maximum, even if the actual cost of delivering services is higher.

What do I need to do?

• If you receive Housing Benefit: You don’t need to take any action. We’ll notify your local authority of the new charges so they can reassess your claim.
• If you receive Universal Credit (UC): You’ll need to update your rent amount in your UC account once the new charges take effect in April. UC won’t accept changes in advance.

If you need to do anything, there will be more guidance in the letter we will send you towards the end of February.

Is there support if I can’t pay?

You can also access free, confidential advice from organisations such as StepChange or Citizens Advice, or check whether you’re entitled to any additional benefits at wcht.entitledto.co.uk.

For any questions about your rent or service charges, contact us at enquiries@wcht.org.uk or call 0800 218 2247. If your query is about your specific rent amount, we won’t be able to advise you of this until late February, when we will write to you with this information.